A Master's Proof
An enclosed meet hall with no outside presence. This place was completely unknown, not a single soul other than the five Kage where aware of where it was. In fact, even the man that they had bought there had no idea of this place's location. To be exact the five Kage didn't know where they were, but knew what the location was for. He got there through the teleportation technique of the Eighth Hokage. To be frank, it was how all the Kage got there. It was a location picked out by the Kazekage, but only could be reached by the Hokage through normal means. The Kage weren't even allowed to bring guards of any sorts.. If anyone decided to betray anyone, it was be a pure duel between the Five Kage and no one else. The area was dark. There was only a faint glimmer of light which shined over the man standing in the middle. He was like the angel in the darkness, being watched over by the eyes of the five Kage. There was a silence, everyone had just been going through a dense conversation for a decision that would not only affect the man there, but possibly the Shinobi World as we know it. Again, there was a silence. It must be broken unless there would be an unbalance in the decision being made. The first to speak out, was the one and only Eighth Hokage himself. "I hear boasting about his how he is able, but have any of us truly seen what he's capable of? He'll be gaurding the most notorious missing-nin in all of the land. From my current, thought, I believe we should just allow me to utilize a clone to guard the castle." Clearing his throat he glared at the man, a nasty look he'd been giving him throughout the entire meeting. Quickly jumping on the opposing side of the Hokage, the Mizukage spoke out first. "Your clone idea will not be accepted Hokage. You know that the prison can only be guarded by someone that is not directly connected to any of the five Kage." Cutting the Mizukage off the last word, the Hokage tapped the table rapidly. "Very well then. I have a new proposition." "That is?" The Mizukage question. "I say you allow me to test his strength in combat. If he can't hold his own against me, how will he plan to fight against one hundred, or maybe even a thousand escapees." The Hokage snickered. The man sat back, and as he hit up against the chair a cracking sound occurred. The Raikage snapped instantly. She was furious, something that seemed to run in the acting of the Raikage. "Negative!" She roared across the room, her words extending all the way to where the Hokage was. That is no way to determine someone's power. It is completely possible that is power stems from his willpower. A battle won't prove anything but show off your abilities. An almost pathetic decision on your part, Hokage." "HONEY!" He shouted, releasing a wave of compressed air throughout the entire room. Possibly causing long air to lift into the air, where it would flow. The Raikage's hair was no exception, he golden hair flowed in the wind like a fallen leaf with no destination traveling with the currents of the wind. "I mean, Lady Raikage. If anything, the other Kage should remember the power of the Hokage if anything. So, what do you say, Mukūrō?" The man he addressed had finally been able to show his figure. It was illuminated by the lights within the area, which revealed his figure. He was as pale as a ghost, with black hair and green eyes to make this look particularly distinct. He had no real expression on his face at this time, and simply kept his head bowed in the presence of his superiors. "You may do whatever you believe appropriate, Lord Hokage." This meek man, the man so feared by the Shinobi continent, was the man regarded as Mukūrō. It was particularly strange to note that this harmless-looking man was chosen by the Five Kage to govern the most infamous prison in all of the world. "Then it's settled!" Jumping from the seat at which he sat in, the lights of the room began to flicker on going around in a complete circle. As he jumped over the table, he removed his Hokage hat, and placed it on the table, the elegantly landed on his feet. Reaching under his black haori, he drew his blade and pointed it at Mukūrō. The black haori flowed in the wind and the kanji bearing his seat of the number Hokage he was shined off the light. It was an nontraditional haori, but it fit his style. Towards the bottom bore flames, which where the symbolism of his eternal flames. The haori was designed his the Kazekage, a man he knew personally, Zenjou. "Very well then. Take a strike!" "Yes, sir." Mukūrō obeyed, clutching the sword hilt that was to his waist. It was an odd sword that he found on his journey which he named Nakizura, primarily due to the streaks of water that dripped down its edge as he found it. With almost no warning or dedication to stance, Mukūrō drew his sword at incredible speeds, channeling a film of chakra across its edge that, upon the blade being completely drawn vertically, sent a crescent blast of chakra towards his opponent's dominant sword arm, with the intent of both bifurcating the arm and using the chakra's contact-based shockwave to cause significant injury. As the pale, pale, I mean pale man, drew his blade, it's unique make was something Seigetsu had never seen before. But, Seigetsu's efforts of trying to find the origins of the sword would be interrupted in the next moment. With the forces of on his side, the disruption in the flow of nature alerted Seigetsu. Even with his perception of most things, Mukūrō's quick draw caught even the might Hokage off guards. Before he knew it, Seigetsu was channeling his own chakra into his blade, which forged into the fire nature. Launching these flames off his blade in the shape of a crescent, they traveled towards Mukūrō's own technique. As the two would clash, a large, but stable explosion occurred covering the two from the view of the other four Kage. As the explosion dissipated, Mukūrō's facial expressions had not changed. However, his thoughts did. Knowing full well that a blast of energy would lead nowhere, Mukūrō instead stabbed his sword into the ground, using an invisible shroud of chakra around his blade the achieve the effect. The moment he did so, Mukūrō caused another pulse of chakra to subsequently cause the ground underneath both the Hokage and himself to rapidly shake, before it shattered into multiple pieces. Given Mukūrō's awareness of the situation, he managed to grasp his footing onto the slab of concrete with chakra, however, his true intent was to disorient the Hokage in order to gain an instant's worth of an opening. Everything seemed to happen so quickly. As when Mukūrō threw his blade into the ground, it began to rip apart near instantly without a single thought or hand seal. "Tch.. People just don't use hand seals anymore." It was then that the Hokage's foot began to levitate from the force of a broke rock rising into the atmosphere. He was well aware that he wouldn't be give time to think thanks to the opponent he'd been facing. By simply holding out his free hand, a Gunbai was instantly created. With a single effortless swung towards the ground beneath him, Seigetsu was pushed upwards by the violent force of wind. This made it seem as if the Hokage add an ability to fly. Rocks that were once beneath would be forced back to the ground, and even from where his opponent stood, he could feel the wind. Well, if it weren't for that aura he would. "Hey, Seigetsu. I'm not sure if you've noticed, nut this guy's dukkha is like emotionless." This was the voice of K'un echoing through his head. Seigetsu nodded and continued to "float" in the air. Noticing Seigetsu's flight tactics, Mukūrō quickly took advantage of it as best he could. Given his own disadvantages in the air, for obvious reasons, Mukūrō opted to use a projectile-based method. Specifically, he quickly shifted from his position to behind an upturned slab of concrete. The slab was rather large in size and, given Mukūrō's lanky frame, would never realistically be able to move it. However, with no more than a single straight kick in an upwards diagonal direction to the slab's center, Mukūrō managed to propel the piece of debris directly towards Seigetsu's right side in the hopes of distracting him. While doing so, Mukūrō once again disappeared from sight within a single step, managing to appear to the left of Seigetsu's direct position, albeit from the ground. He gathered chakra at the tip of his sword, letting it accumulate until a small sphere was born, before releasing it with a single swing of his blade, causing an arc-shaped blast of energy to corner him from the left. This pincer attack left Seigetsu with only a few options, which Mukūrō would undoubtedly take advantage of. Quickly turning his attention to his left, Seigetsu found himself staring into a cloud of debris. A cloud which he had been mistake for his target's incoming attack. "What a dirty trick." Creating another powerful gust of wind with just a swing of his sword, Seigetsu completely cleared this debris. Though, by the time the debris had completely cleared, a large arc of a bright light hurled towards him. By turning around, Seigetsu clashed with this dense arc and sent it back down it's original path towards Mukūrō. How? Would be the question running through the pale-man's thoughts. It was simple. It was all thanks to the work of K'un who rested on Seigetsu's shoulder as a spiritual entity. "I have eyes everywhere! How about I say it's my turn to attack, Pale Man!" Dashing as he fell from above, he headed for the one he called Pale Man. Seigetsu let go of his Gunbai and it flowed in the sky, but still bound to Seigetsu. His hand became engulfed in a dense concentration of a unique lightning chakra. "Uchiha...?" Mukūrō thought, remembering his brief lessons with Kazuhide. However, he quickly focused his attention back to the issue at hand. Although, given Mukūrō's powers, it wasn't exactly an issue. All Mukūrō needed to do was place his arm outwards, increasing the potency of his base abilities to the point where all of the excess chakra surrounding him would be absorbed in but a moment, no doubt surprising his opposition. In saying that, Seigetsu's current maneuver caused Mukūrō but a moment of stress, before he understood the best way to counter it. Once again, Mukūrō channeled chakra into his blade, before clashing with Seigetsu's chidori. However, this was no ordinary clash. In the midst of the collision, Mukūrō was applying a shockwave through the chakra in his blade, with the intent of nullifying both attacks and blowing back his opponent through a localized explosion. Given that it was made by him, Mukūrō pre-emptively managed to avoid with a sudden backflip that left a trail of chakra in its wake, hoping to at the very least cause light injuries to Seigetsu. With the clash, Seigetsu's Chidori would meet with Pale-Man's blade. But then, there was a sense of chakra beginning to exert outwards. "There it is!" Seigetsu thought to himself. Upon this sensation, Seigetsu rather than increase the gravity around his opponent, increased it around his own proximity, allowing him to be forced into the ground rather than be blown back. Quickly lifting this gravitational pull, Seigetsu dashed at Pale-Man yet again, with another Chidori ready at hand. This time, as Mukūrō would look up, as he regained his balance from his backflip, Seigetsu would be in his face, with his technique preparing to drive it into his shoulder. Mukūrō's senses understood Seigetsu's position wasn't compromised. Albeit, given that he knew this information, he could act accordingly. Mukūrō immediately covered his being in a shroud of chakra, vastly improving his physical abilities and enabling him to create a makeshift platform that enabled him to stop his backflip as soon as he could verify Seigetsu's position with his eyes, before propelling diagonally downwards himself as a means to catch the Hokage by surprise. He attempted to send a slash across his torso in the process. Again, like before, nature was on his side. It was at first, and it had never left. Not only did he have energy to thank for helping his perception, but he also had his ability to sense the dukkha which followed someone wherever they went. "Enough of this evading and knocking back. We'll go with this right here. Our last clash!" Holding his own blade up high, Seigetsu swung his blade downwards with a force that would allow him to cut down the highest mountain with just one swing. It could be mistaken for something that enhanced strength, but that was incorrect. This was the raw physical power behind his swing. No amor would stand a chance, a clash with Seigetsu would also be proven futile. But it seemed to late for Pale-Make to turn back now. He had went through with his swing and so did Seigetsu. "...I see." Mukūrō's thoughts concluded, however his actions didn't. Despite the inevitability that Seigetsu's strength far surpassed his own, Mukūrō was prepared for such an outcome. In the brief moment that was left prior to their inevitable clash, the chakra surrounding Mukūrō's arm appeared to condense significantly, before spiking up at the instant of the clash. The resulting force that came from that overcame the strength barrier enough to cause a shockwave of kinetic force from their position, shattering the ground beneath them and leaving fragments of stone to fly in all directions. The end result was inconclusive, in terms of a victor, but Mukūrō managed to step away from the epicenter of the clash with no more than light injuries and tears on his clothing, although he was unsure if the same could be said about Seigetsu. Shattered ground from beneath began to uplift into the atmosphere, creating yet again, another debris. Though, this debris was as powerful as any they'd created before. Mukūrō emerged first, complete unscathed light the flows of the wind. Then next was Seigetsu, without any bit of harm being caused to him. Everything was intact, no scratches, neither were his clothes torn. His body was instead erected in a barrier which was evident of his protection. Seigetsu vanished from where he was standing, now standing back at his seat. He lifted his Hokage hat and placed it one his head. "You pass for now. You've taken my most powerful one-handed base sword form attack." Seigetsu mumbled a chant under his breath. "Allow all enemies to hear your echo, Yamabiko." His sword began to emit a small light, and as the light withered away the true form of his sword was shown. "I know you have more in your arsenal, but currently, nothing you hold is strong enough to stand toe to toe with my Yamabiko. You are a skilled swordman, but at our current level I could see me being the superior in a fight to stab each other to death. In a few months, you'll be feared by the entire shinobi world, but don't let this go to your head. It may or may not influence you in a positive way. Go guard the castle. Meeting adjourned." "Yes sir." Mukūrō bowed, turning his back on the Kage that were before him and walked away. He had passed the trial given to him. Where would his life lead? He did not know.